By Paul Honda
HondaReport.com
Editor
Friday, February 6, 2004

MILILANI—Two hours before game time, Tony Saffery detected some unusual activity by his Kapolei Hurricanes.

En route to the O’ahu Interscholastic Association championship matchup with Mililani, the ‘Canes were psyched. Thankfully, for Saffery, this was a good thing.

“They were cheering and chanting so loud, so unified,” the Kapolei head coach said of the half-hour bus ride. “Much more than normal. I never heard them cheer like that.”

Once the Hurricanes arrived at Mililani’s immaculate softball facility, another strange behavior caught the veteran coach’s eye. “Usually, I have to tell them to get their shoes on. They’re slow about that,” he said. “But I turned around, and they were ready.”

The Hurricanes proved more than ready Friday afternoon, toppling Mililani 3-1 to capture the OIA championship. It is the first league championship title for the young school, which will graduate its first senior class in June.

The win assures Kapolei (12-1) of a first-round bye in the Data House State Softball Championships next week at Rainbow Wahine Stadium. The tourney begins Wednesday, and Kapolei will begin play Thursday.

Mililani (11-2) will start play Wednesday as the OIA’s No. 2 seed. “Kapolei, they’re an awesome team,” longtime Mililani head coach Mike Okimoto said. “Their lineup, up and down, no flaws. They’ve got great hitting and athleticism, they way they can go up and get the ball.”

For Kapolei, a team with four seniors, some key contributions came from underclassmen in the title game. Sophomore Tajia Acierto, arguably the hottest pitcher in the state, continued her winning ways. She limited Mililani to four base hits and was never seriously threatened after surrendering a run in he second inning.

“Tajia did a great job keeping them at bay,” Saffery said. “She’s a great competitor, so I just repeated to her, ‘Let your defense help you out,’ and that’s what she did.”

Acierto’s counterpart, Dana Lee, kept Kapolei off-balance. The sophomore allowed just six base hits and one earned run.

The Hurricanes’ only loss of the season came against Mililani, 1-0. Friday’s game was much the same until a fourth-inning error led to two runs for Kapolei. That came not long after an error in right field nearly gave Kapolei the lead in the opening frame.

“I was surprised Mililani made them. They just had the errors,” Acierto said.

Kapolei came out swinging from the start. Austi Paris’ fly ball to deep right was misplayed, and Paris reached second base. Malamaisoua Manuma followed with a single to left, but Ciera Senas threw Paris out at the plate to end the inning.

The ‘Canes had no regrets about their aggressive style of play. “I wanted to establish that we’re not gonna settle for one base,” Saffery said. “The throw was perfect. It was on the money. If it had been a little off to the left or right, we would’ve scored.”

The Trojans took a 1-0 lead in the second frame when Casey Sugihara singled home Melissa Lehano, who had doubled to left. With a one-run lead, Lee seemed to be in the driver’s seat.

Then came the tumultuous fourth inning. Anita Manuma reached base on an infield single. Paris grounded to short, which led to another Mililani error. After Malamaisoua Manuma grounded into a fielder’s choice forceout at third, Valana Manuma popped out to second.

Lee induced Jasmine Yoro into a grounder to short, but the throw sailed high over first. Paris headed to third at full speed and made the turn. “Coach said, ‘Check, check, check,’ and I went,” said Paris, who remembered a collision with her coach, Saffery, in the same location during a win over Kailua Wednesday.

“Coach stayed far away from me this time,” Paris said. She raced home with Kapolei’s first run, and Manuma slid across home plate a moment later to give the Hurricanes a 2-1 lead.

“I saw J-girl (Yoro) hit the ball. I rounded third, and they were fidgety with the ball,” said Manuma, who admitted to not looking at her coach. “So I ran. I just wanted to score, and I trusted my speed.”

Saffery was stunned, but thankful. “Mililani is a program that takes pride in its defense, so those last two mistakes they made, those were crucial,” he said. “If I’d held the runners, I don’t know. The ball was close to the infield.”

Acierto kept sailing along on the mound, and Kapolei added another run in the top of the fifth. Jasmine Sanchez led off with a single to left and moved to second on Acierto’s sacrifice bunt. Sanchez advanced to third on Chaz Ebalaroza’s grounder to third, and scored on Anita Manuma’s line-drive single to right. That gave Kapolei a 3-1 lead—more than enough for Acierto.

The Trojans put a runner on base in each of the final three innings, only to strand them. Kimberly Goo doubled into the left-field gap with one out in the bottom of the fifth, but got no further.

Charity Senas reached base in the sixth on an infield error, but did not get beyond second base.

Thiffany Anguay-Kalau drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh, but Acierto fanned Goo to end the game.

Acierto allowed just one run in 21 innings of work during the OIA playoffs. She no-hit Roosevelt, tossed a three-hitter against defending state champion Kailua, and handcuffed the Trojans on their own field.

“Words can’t even explain how I feel,” Acierto said. “We were so excited on the way here.”

Acierto relied on old standbys to keep the Trojans under wraps. “My curveballs and screwballs were working. My arm is sore, but I can go on,” she said.

No doubt, the Hurricanes will have plenty to celebrate this weekend. “My heart is still racing,” Saffery said, catching himself for a moment as tears began to surface. “I’m very proud of the kids. We set a benchmark.”

Mililani may have been a favorite in the eyes of longtime fans, but on paper, the Trojans are a young team with its best softball in the years—perhaps days—ahead. “We got to where wanted to be,” said Okimoto, now in his 10th year as head coach. “We wanted to be the No. 1 seed in the West, get into the OIA title game, and make the state tournament. It wasn’t the outcome we wanted, but we’re here.”

Lee, who enjoyed a playoff run to match any ace, is equally eager to get back on the diamond. “Our team will pick it up. They guys who were in there, I’m sure they’ll work harder than ever to correct the mistakes,” she said.

Probably the best finesse pitcher in the OIA, Lee didn’t get a lot of calls. She didn’t need them, though she seemed to clip the corners on much of her off-speed pitches—that were called balls.

“My cut fastball, off-speed curve and change-up were working,” she said. “But I didn’t throw my change-up as much as my off-speed—that moves more and it throw them off more.”

Okimoto, who spoke with his team for 20 minutes after the game as they sat in left field, is looking forward to the state tourney. “Dana did an awesome job. The error we made took the momentum out of the game for us. But you gotta remember, for some of them, it’s the first time they’re actually playing in a championship game, and they felt the pressure.”

Time will heal these wounds, he added. “We’ll take two days off and get the hurt out of the way. Then we’ll be back to work Monday and Tuesday,” Okimoto said.

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